IR - American U vs Brandeis?

Colleges and Universities A-Z American University
1

<p>Hi, I got into 3 colleges and I like these 2 the best.</p>

<p>I’m leaning a bit towards American U but I want to know what you guys think because you guys are pretty knowledgeable </p>

<p>I like small classes, community feel, not a party person, diverse/global feel, a balance of fun and play, good campus/food, good study environment/easy study group areas, just a place where I can enjoy myself while learning in an engaging and fun class and not have to go to parties to meet people (not very extroverted)</p>

<p>I’m going to go into international relations/studies and my future goal is to become either a diplomat, something to do with 3rd world country development, work at UN or a NGO, etc.</p>

<p>I’m a Christian and that is very important to me (dunno if it’ll matter in the selection between the 2 schools, it should be fine right?). I’m also Korean so hopefully there’s a strong and established Korean association/community or something at both or either of the schools as that is important to me as well.</p>

<p>I’ll have to pay 8,000 per year at Brandeis (not including loans)
I’ll have to pay 11,000 per year at American U (not including loans)</p>

<p>I also got into the honors program and SIS (school of international service) at American U and my best friend in highschool right now (and roommate atm) is 99% going to American U and is also in the honors program with the same major.</p>

<p>what do you guys think?</p>

<p>edit: oh and i also want to study abroad!! thinking japan or korea (have never attended school in korea and want to perfect my korean) atm but im open to anything</p>

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<p>Putting aside EVERYTHING else - the honors program, the classes, the fun, etc. - the big difference for an IR student is location. You just can’t overestimate how important that is, if you choose to make use of it. Go visit Brandeis and ask, point-blank, how many IR students have in-term internships in anything even remotely related to IR? Not summer internships - after all, everyone can get those. In-term.</p>

<p>If you are at American, you have an entire school organized around maximizing those opportunities. Even the academic week is organized around it. An entire part of the career advising center devoted to it. You will quickly see that people at AU often dress differently than those at Brandeis - and that’s because they’re working, at real jobs (paid and unpaid) in places that can propel their careers forward.</p>

<p>Secondly, at Brandeis, 100% of the student body is majoring in the liberal arts, and IR is simply part of it. At American, about two-thirds of the student body is NOT majoring in the liberal arts, but are part of other schools - International Service, Communications, Public Affairs, and Business. There are relatively few science majors. Relatively few arts majors (by the way - those departments tend to be good, but they are small.) It’s simply true that the student body at AU is more pre-professional. You make like that, or you may not, but it is a difference.</p>

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<p>Hey! I’m Korean as well, and an SIS major who wants to study abroad in South Korea. Though, unfortunately, I’m not in the honors program. </p>

<p>Well, I can give you my opinion on SIS’ IR program but that will do nothing for you because it’ll just be one sided… Plus I know next to nothing about Brandeis’ IR program. What I will say is that AU has been consistently ranked in Foreign Policy Magazine’s undergrad and grad rankings every year. This year AU’s undergraduate placed in 10th and grad placed in 8th (and I haven’t seen Brandeis being talked about in any shape or form for IR majors). Being heavily involved in IR/DC rhetoric I have not heard of Brandeis for IR being competitive but I may be wrong. You can research more and decide for yourself how competitive these two are, but your future goals definitely align with what a lot of AU students want to do from passing the Foreign Service test to working at the Department of Defense and so forth. </p>

<p>P.S. Fact: 1/4 of AU’s student body majors in SIS and 46% major in social sciences.</p>

<p>AU was founded as a Methodist school (and still is) but hardly represents that. There are a wide variety of religions (or lack of) on campus and I find it refreshing to be quite honest. That is up for you to decide. We have a Korean Student Association on campus, but I will say that I was quite disappointed when I came to see what it was. They don’t meet regularly (maybe monthly) and just put on events and panels, etc. A lot of the students are international students from Yonsei, Kookmin (think I got that wrong), Ewha, and more so I found it hard to communicate because I am a Korean-American who lacks in conversational Korean skills. Although, I’m working on that! I’m currently taking Korean Intermediate II. </p>

<p>If you are interested in taking Korean, we have a great Korean professor here (one person because the department is so small and she takes all the classes) who really helps you with Korean but also finding internships, teaching you about Korean culture, etc. She is amazing! After, to take advanced classes, AU students go to Georgetown or George Washington via the consortium if you wish to minor in Korean language. As you may or may not know, AU has exchange programs with Yonsei (one of the SKY universities in Korea) and others. I have an exchange student friend also from Ritsumeikan who is receiving a dual degree from AU. So, if you want to study Japan, AU offers exchange programs with Ritsumeikan University and Yonsei (from what I hear both are amazing). I’ll definitely be doing one whole year at Yonsei. Korean food, noraebang, PC bang, clubs, and Korean culture in general! I think it’ll be life changing!</p>

<p>Also, DC is a great place to find internship opportunities. AU currently holds the #1 spot for internships before graduation at 85% (US News & World Report) so internships are highly respected here from Capitol Hill to NGOs to any interests you can think of. I’ll be interning at The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) this summer and there are also other DC organizations like Sejong Society and Korea Economic Institute. If you’re interested in North Korean issues or Korea in general, there are many opportunities in DC to get involved with. </p>

<p>It’s great that you already have a friend who is in honors as well. You two can dorm together in Hughes! Hopefully the $3,000 added on from Brandeis’ cost won’t make you choose otherwise! Seeing your interests, goals, and as a Korean, I think AU would honestly be a great fit for you. Let me know if you’d like to get in touch or have any other questions!</p>

<p>Brian</p>

4

<p>wow! thank you mini and bk for your responses.
@mini
yeah it seems like if I’m IR AU is the way to go. but my parents are worried that I might switch majors (I changed my dream career like 4 times in highschool lol) but I told them I am pretty sure about IR and if I do decide to change I can always just transfer.
@bk
wow that was some awesome information. would it be ok to PM you and ask you questions if i do decide to go? my friend and i will be going to the overnight stay + freshman day on the 19th/20th. AU seems like a dream come true for an IR major… I am so envious of the internships you got… I am super interested in North Korean issues. I wrote my commonapp about my passion for it :stuck_out_tongue: My Korean is pretty high level as I lived with Korean students in a dorm at a boarding school for 2 years now, I just want to get it to near native level. I’m a bit disappointed that the Korean community isn’t as strong there though :confused:
Just wondering, how is the campus life there? and how rigorous are the academics?
again, thanks so much for the detailed response</p>

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<p>You’re welcome! Yup definitely – you can always PM me since I frequent this forum. If you’d also like to meet up or need assistance I’m here. </p>

<p>The internships are great in DC! Oh wow, then HRNK would be great for you as well! And it’s awesome you want to become more proficient in Korean. It will be of such great use to you if you ever apply to NSA’s Summer Language Program or apply for the Foreign Service exam because you need to know a language to a high level of proficiency. </p>

<p>Don’t get me wrong – the Korean community is average but not bad. There is a panel of a North Korean artist coming, a Korean Cultural night this Saturday, events and bibimbap outings, Virginia Korean BBQ outings, etc. It’s fun. I think I say it’s not so great just because I come from California where I saw UCLA’s Korean American Student Association that featured huge dance competitions, Koreans redistricting Koreatown, etc. But it’s DC – there’s not a huge Korean population. You have to work with it. I’m also working on a Korean-American civil liberties initiative right now for the broader DC area because I realize this is a problem so if you come to AU be on the look out! Haha. </p>

<p>In terms of campus life – it’s great. AU has been having some amazing sunny weather and if you like small class sizes, good spaces to study, good environment, great professors, and sort of everything you listed excluding good food, you’d like it. Let me explain – when I mean “great professors” I mean AU is a teaching school. Obviously, we are a small liberal arts college but AU definitely stresses the teaching value and class participation a lot. I’ve never had to participate so much in classes in my life. When I said AU doesn’t have good food, I mean it’s OKAY. It’s not great. Once again, coming from California where all the public schools had 7 dining halls and a bunch of junk food in the area, coming to DC’s one dining hall notoriously known as TDR was something to adjust to. But it’s not that bad. Seriously. Academics are a little inflated and this is just my sole opinion. Though, I’ve talked to some professors about this and they say it’s true since most AU students receive As and Bs while a lot of public schools hand out Cs and there is practically no bell curve. But it’s not easy though.</p>

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<p>^
you are my hero.
I’m really feeling AU right now and I can’t wait to visit the college.
I’ll make sure to PM you with any questions later on, thanks so much and best luck to you!</p>

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<p>With regard to how awesome SIS is, I’ll just give you this link (note this is for the world i.e. AU is considered better than LSE and Oxibridge and many Ivies for IR) [The</a> Top Ten International Relations Undergraduate Programs | Foreign Policy](<a href=“http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/01/03/top_ten_international_relations_undergraduate_programs?page=0,9]The”>http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/01/03/top_ten_international_relations_undergraduate_programs?page=0,9)</p>